Mark O'Connor, Chris Thile, Frank Vignola, et al.: Jam Session

Mark O'Connor, Chris Thile, Frank Vignola, et al.

Jam Session

Label:

OMAC

Media:

CD

Genre:

Rock/pop

Ratings:

Music

Sonics

“Wow!” is about the most restrained response to hearing these six take off on nine stringed-instrument excursions into melody and improvisational dialoge across a broad musical spectrum of bluegrass, gypsy jazz, jump blues, swing, even south-of-the-border bossa nova. The performances were recorded on four separate occasions from 2000 to 2004, in New Jersey, New York, Colorado, and Nashville; the tunes are O’Connor compositions with the exception of an album-closing romp through Stephane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt’s twisting and turning “Minor Swing,” on which O’Connor, friend to and student of Grappelli, explores the dark and light tones of the fiddle with blazing speed, humor, and precision, as Vignola, a Django disciple, keeps a steady rhythmic pulse pumping. Thile more than has his moments, too—a breathtaking sprint up and down the neck on “Granny White Special,” a more deliberate, introspective, richly textured and deeply blue investigation during his part of a near-16- minute showcase, “In The Cluster Blues.” Live recordings all, with impeccable sonics courtesy of producer O’Connor, whose steady hand on the board provides both separation and dramatic presence on the solos and a robust, dynamic ensemble sound behind them.